Culture Quote by A.A. Attanasio
““The surgeon tells me that you're a sorcerer," Pym said. "Is that so?" Jaki looked to the captain with the glare of the masts in his eyes. "Yes." Pym weighed this disclosure. "You speak with the dead?" "Yes." The captain's eyes screwed up intently. "What do they say to you?" "They don't talk back." Pym and Mister Blackheart laughed in unison...The captain said, "Mister Blackheart wants to know what kind of sorcerer you are." Jaki pondered a response and finally said, "I was learning to catch souls before my teacher was killed." "Souls, eh? And what do you do with them after you catch them?" "I put them back in their bodies." "Ah, then you're telling us you're a surgeon.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Last Days of the Sun, 1995
A character reveals he can communicate with the dead and restore souls, blurring lines between sorcery and medicine.
In simple terms: He can talk to dead and return souls to bodies.
Key Takeaway
Question how knowledge can heal or harm.
Themes
identity
knowledge
ethics
power
life
death
Mood
mysterious
thoughtful
dark
Type
dialogue
fantasy
philosophical
When to use this quote
- medical practice
- spiritual counseling
- afterlife research
- ethical debates
- fantasy storytelling
Key Concepts
metaphysics
restoration
dualism
Questions to Reflect On
- What responsibilities arise from such power?
- How does this affect the character’s identity?
A Different Perspective
The claim may be metaphorical, not literal.
![“[The Doctor] pulled the thing out of Prince Boris's mouth, waving it around. 'Oh. Blimey. This is not a spatula. What is it?' I [Amy] stared at the stubby thing. It looked like the world's chunkiest novelty gift pen... I coughed. 'That, Doctor, is the sonic screwdriver.' 'Ah,' Dr Smith boggled…” quote by James Goss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fe9/james-goss-19280_amy-pond_the-doctor-pulled-the-thing-out-of-princ_821919.jpg)
![“So... Boris. Are you evil?' [said the Doctor]. 'Not at all, my dear sir,' chuckled Boris. 'You just chuckled,' groaned the Doctor. 'Chuckling's a dead givaway in my books. Along with putting your hands on your hips and snogging another man's wife.” quote by James Goss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/91b/james-goss-19280_another-man_so-boris-are-you-evil-said-the-doctor-no_1481027.jpg)
![“360 degrees of the circle can be divided evenly by all integers from 1 through 10 except 7; thus, 7 was considered by pre-talismanic witches and sages to “break out of the circle," because breaking the circle by 7 produces an irrational number, whose nonrepeating decimal sequence runs to infinity.]” quote by A.A. Attanasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/4cb/a-a-attanasio-30107_mathematics_360-degrees-of-the-circle-can-be-divided_356058.jpg)
